No Place Like Home
by DiehardJavaJunkie14
Summary: Based on a flashback from The Gilmore Handbook. Stars Hollow is putting on a production of The Wizard of Oz... and guess who's Dorothy? JavaJunkie friendship fic, pre series. Chapter fic.
1. Volunteering

**A/N: Based on a chapter from "The Gilmore Handbook" by… me… this is Lorelai's "Wizard of Oz" flashback. Enjoy!**

Town meetings. What an entertaining concept. _Or, boring_, Lorelai thought, rolling her eyes. As Lorelai shoved yet another Dorito in her mouth, Taylor banged his gavel on the podium once again. The sound brought her out of her daydream. "People, please, we have yet to get to the big announcement! We'll never get to it if we can't stop yapping!"

"Well, maybe we really don't care what the big announcement is, but no one can tell you the truth," Rory said, rolling her eyes.

"He interrupted my daydream," Lorelai muttered, slumping down in her chair.

Rory reached in Lorelai's bag of chips and grabbed a few. "What was it about?"

"Bono was serenading me, he was signing 'With or Without You' to me while we were on our first date. What on Earth could be more important than a Bono serenade?"

Rory shrugged. "I'm thinking nothing."

Lorelai groaned. "Unless he's telling us that he's actually the one that 'You're So Vain' was written about…"

Taylor continued his speech and Lorelai and Rory mocked every word. When Lorelai's Doritos ran out, she crumbled the bag and dropped it onto the floor, making a mental note to pick it up on her way out. She licked her fingers in a fruitless attempt to get rid of the orange powdery residue that the Doritos left behind. Lorelai turned to Rory and made a face. "This is why I beg you to remind me to get Cooler Ranch Doritos next time we go Movie Night food shopping."

"I did, but you held up the bag of Nacho Doritos, hugged them, and serenaded them, how was I to resist?" Rory replied. "Your maternal instincts really came out when you saw them... the look in your eyes basically said that I had no idea what kinds of destruction you'd cause if I took them away."

Lorelai stared at her now orange fingers and groaned. "Seriously, I am awfully convincing. You'd think I'd remember to bring a napkin to these things, but no matter how many times we come, I end up having some sort of stickiness or a stain on my fingers, and napkinless."

"Lesson learned, then," Rory teased.

As Lorelai rubbed her fingers together, trying again to get the Dorito stain to go away, Taylor pulled out a laser pointer and began lecturing on the town budget. Lorelai imitated Taylor with the laser pointer, eliciting a giggling fit from Rory. She finally resorted to wiping her fingers on her jeans. "They're not my good jeans, they're the jeans that are two sizes too small," she reasoned, turning to Rory as she whispered.

"Okay, at least it's not your heart that's two sizes too small," Rory mused.

Lorelai tried to pay attention to the town meeting, but her stomach was preventing her from doing so. She was definitely still hungry, but what else was new? Lorelai reached for the Hershey's bar at the bottom of her purse. She broke it in half, and handed some to Rory. As Lorelai broke the chocolate squares into tiny pieces, the town began to cheer. Lorelai looked up, shoving the chocolate in her mouth. "What did I miss?" she asked Luke.

"Taylor's announced the cast members of 'The Wizard of Oz'. All they need is a Dorothy," Luke replied. He raised his eyebrows and turned to Lorelai again. "The sad part of all of that was the fact that I understood you when you said that."

Lorelai swallowed and grinned. "Yes, this is completely true."

"Mom, you should be Dorothy! I mean, you could make your own costume… you've always wanted ruby slippers, and it gives you an excuse to watch the movie, over and over! You should try out," Rory suggested.

"I think the air supply in here is getting cut off, you're obviously insane," Lorelai insisted.

Luke stood up and pointed to Lorelai. "Lorelai wants to be Dorothy," he said, sitting back down.

Lorelai was stunned. As Luke sat back down, she turned to him, her arms crossed. "What was that?" she demanded to know.

"Payback for the time you volunteered me for the Stars Hollow bake-off," Luke replied.

"You won that, Luke, and you won a thousand dollars along with it!"

"Lorelai, is this true? We'd love to have you as Dorothy!" Taylor gushed.

Babette nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Taylor's right. She's the perfect Dorothy! Just look at those eyes, and that smile. And her hair is perfect for Dorothy!"

Miss Patty stood up next to Taylor. "Sweetheart, I'll give you voice lessons! You've got some pipes there, I know you do! Come by the studio whenever you'd like"

Lorelai shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She thought back to the idea of being Dorothy. She'd seen the movie already, and she knew most of it by heart. She sighed. Knowing she'd get an outfit out of the ordeal, if nothing else was helping convince her. That and how she knew that the town was going to let her hear it if she turned the role down. She stood up and uncrossed her arms. "I'll be your Dorothy," she consented.

The town cheered, Rory hugged Lorelai, and Taylor tried to regain order in Miss Patty's studio. "Fantastic. The first rehearsal starts tomorrow at eleven. We hope to see anyone who wants to try out for a lesser role, like the Munchkins and the flying monkeys, there as well. See you tomorrow, meeting adjourned," Taylor said, banging the gavel once again.

Lorelai picked up her empty bag of Doritos, shoved it into her purse, and walked out of Miss Patty's studio. Taylor caught up with her, and handed her the script. Lorelai flipped the pages, and the more yellow highlighted lines she saw, the more her brain began to hurt. Opening the script, she stood out of the way so Rory could find her, but when Rory caught up with Lane, Lorelai found a nearby bench and opened her second Hershey bar.

She again broke the pieces of chocolate, thinking about the commitment she'd just made to the town. Stars Hollow was extremely proud of their amateur theater group, and Lorelai knew it. The fact that they'd have an open casting call made her a little suspicious, but she wasn't going to question it now. She had a part, and now she needed to play that role better than anyone else.

Judy Garland's shoes were too big to fill, but Lorelai knew she was going to make Stars Hollow proud. As she ate the last of her candy, pulled out a bag of M&M's, and contemplated how to make her shoes sparkle, Luke walked up behind her, bringing her out of her thought process.

"Hey," Luke said, taking a seat next to her on the bench.

She turned to him and smiled. "Hey. Thanks for volunteering me, I'll thank you right after Rory, God, and the Academy in my acceptance speech. I'll even allow you to escort me on the red carpet, but you've got to wear a tux. And shave," she teased.

"You're not angry at me over all of this?" he asked in disbelief.

She put a handful of M&M's in her mouth and shook her head. "Nah."

Luke raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Really. I'm going to go home tonight, grab a pen and my diary and start writing really nice things about you. 'Dear Diary, I just love Luke. He's such a hunk!'" she teased in her girly voice.

Luke blushed. "Ah, jeez."

Lorelai shook her head, and put a hand on Luke's shoulder, almost trying to reassure him. "I'm really not mad. This could actually be fun."

"All right… as long as you're not mad," Luke said, looking at his feet. "I didn't mean to get you in a huge mess like this."

"But that doesn't mean you're getting off so easily, mister," she added.

Luke sat up. "I'm not getting off so easily? What's that supposed to mean? I'm not trying out for a part! No way, that's not happening," he ranted.

Lorelai giggled. "Although the idea of Luke as one of the munchkins is amusing, I'm thinking you helping me read lines is a much, much better idea," she said, holding out the bag of M&M's for Luke to take some if he wanted to.

"No thanks." He folded his arms. He stared at her, shaking his head. She grinned, knowing there was no way Luke could turn her down for running lines. He sighed, threw up his hands, and let out a groan. "Fine. We're not doing it in public, though."

"Come over my house before I go to practice. My window's stuck anyway, I need someone to fix it… maybe you can help me read lines and fix it at the same time!" Lorelai mused.

"I'll be over at nine," Luke muttered, walking toward the diner.

"Nine thirty's fine!" Lorelai called after him. She laughed a little as she shook her head. She definitely had a lot of work to do. Looking down at the script she'd been handed, she sighed. This was going to be even better, because Luke was going to help her with it.


	2. Running Lines

Lorelai groaned as she heard the curtains open in her bedroom. "Is Luke here already?"

"Yup. You have about five minutes before he turns into a pumpkin again, so I suggest you hurry up," Rory teased, seating herself on Lorelai's bed.

Lorelai sat up, pulling herself out of bed. "What time is it?"

"Nine," Rory replied.

Lorelai opened her closet and took out the new sweatpants she'd bought with the word "cutie" written across the back. She yanked the tag off of the pants, only to have the plastic attachment stay exactly where it was. She threw the pants down and collapsed on her bed. "I told him nine thirty so I could be caffeinated and pretty for when he arrived."

"He brought coffee."

She caught sight of a pair of fingernail clippers on the side table and clipped the plastic piece off of the sweatpants. "Yeah, as a peace offering."

"Well, I'll let you get ready. He's waiting down there, and he's already fixed the window," Rory added.

"Well, isn't he just my hero?" Lorelai groaned sarcastically as she shut the door after Rory left the room. She slipped on her sweatpants, pulled her hair back in a ponytail, and managed to put a little makeup on before giving up on looking nice. She went downstairs to find Luke waiting at the kitchen table with two cups of Luke's coffee. "I think we need to get you a new watch," she said, pointing to him and dropping the script in front of him and taking one of the to-go cups.

"We agreed on nine," Luke said, opening the script. "And did you even open this last night?"

"I have the first three pages or so," Lorelai said, putting her head in her hands. "I couldn't get this one line for the life of me."

Luke flipped through the script. "You have a lot more to go," he pointed out.

"Thank you, Master of the Obvious."

"Jeez, I was just trying to help."

"By telling me exactly how much more I have left? Crazy way of helping, don't you think? I'm adding a dictionary to the list along with that new watch," Lorelai muttered.

Luke took off his jacket. "Do you want me to help run lines, or not?"

"Please?" Lorelai asked.

"Fine. I'll help you. But we're setting some ground rules right now so there's no debating going on in the end. Are we clear?"

Lorelai took another sip of her coffee. "Fine. What are your 'rules'?"

"You have to be prepared for each session. I'm not going to come here and help you if you don't have this stuff memorized," Luke started. "You're wasting my time if you do that."

She crossed her arms and sat back in the chair. Suddenly, she became defensive. "Who's to say I won't be prepared? You assume I won't even look at the script because I find it amusing that I won't finish?"

Luke sighed. He took off his baseball cap and scratched his head before putting it back on. He moved his chair closer to the table and shook his head. "That's not what I said. I don't want you begging me to read lines with you and saying 'oh, I had a date last night, so I didn't pick up the script.'"

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, great, now you're preventing me from having a social life. You're making me wake up early, have no social life, and next, I'll probably have to eat salads because you decide that my body type isn't 'Dorothy'."

"I never said any of that, Lorelai, will you get your head out of the clouds and listen?"

"I heard every word," Lorelai shot back.

"You heard what you wanted to," Luke growled. "Now, let's just… start over. If you want me to run lines with you, just make sure you have some sort of idea of where we are, okay? That's all I'm saying."

Lorelai shrugged. "Fine, sorry I yelled."

"I should have known better than to come before you've been caffeinated," Luke said, shaking his head. "Do you need a minute?"

"No, I think the shouting woke my brain up," Lorelai mused. "Sheila's usually a really heavy sleeper, but she doesn't like conflict. She loves coffee, though."

"I'm not going to touch that one with a ten foot pole," Luke replied. "Go ahead."

Lorelai sat for a minute, staring at Luke as though she was waiting for him to start reading from the script, which was looking thicker and thicker by the minute. She noticed that the flannel he was wearing was probably new, as he rarely wore green. He had the green jacket, sure, and that green truck, but she hadn't seen green flannel on Luke as long as she'd known him, at least not that she could remember. She made a mental note to ask Rory and took another sip of coffee. "So we're telepathically running lines? I think my connection's down," Lorelai started.

"You have the first line," Luke pointed out. "I thought you were doing some inner actor ritual that made you remember your lines."

"Actors have internal rituals?"

Luke shrugged. "You're the actor, not me. How am I supposed to know?"

"They don't tell you these things on E! I could make one up," Lorelai said, sighing.

"Whatever gets you to spit out that first line is fine by me."

Lorelai grinned. "The possibilities of that are endless. Let me think."

"Line?"

"I may need Toto," Lorelai mused, running up the stairs and searching her room for "Toto". She opened the closet and found the stuffed black dog she purchased the previous night. Running back downstairs, she held him high in the air. "Have no fear, Toto's here!"

Luke rolled up his sleeves. "I was shaking in my boots."

"Hot in here?" Lorelai asked, gesturing to his sleeves.

"Just getting comfortable, this may take awhile," Luke teased. "What's with the stuffed dog?"

She sighed and shook her head. "He's a prop. Rory and I spent about twenty dollars trying to get him out of one of those crane toy machines at the arcade."

"Those are a waste of money. They're a ripoff!" Luke ranted.

Her eyes widened and she patted the stuffed dog's head. She crossed her legs and tilted her head just a little. "Was that a painful childhood memory?" she asked.

"No, I just think that parents are stupid to give their kids money to go fishing in that stupid box with cheap stuffed animals," Luke pointed out. "It cost you twenty bucks."

Lorelai hugged Toto close. "He's worth every penny. Back to the lines?"

"We've been waiting ten minutes for you to start, Lorelai," Luke said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, someone's a mister smarty pants, isn't he?" Lorelai asked, holding Toto up to eye level. She turned Toto to Luke and made growling and barking noises, jabbing the stuffed animal's snout into Luke's arm.

"I'm losing my patience," Luke said.

Lorelai took Toto back and sat him on her lap. "Okay, ready?"

"I've been ready for…" Luke looked at his watch, "Thirteen minutes."

"She isn't coming yet, Toto. Did she hurt you? She tried to, didn't she? Come on -- we'll go tell Uncle Henry and Auntie Em. Come on, Toto…" Lorelai giggled and decided to go off course. "Maybe they'll get you a friend with rabies so that Miss Gulch can get attacked…"

Luke sighed, crossing his arms. "That's not in the script, and I know ad-libbing isn't allowed."

"Says who?"

"Says Taylor Doose."

Lorelai groaned. "Kirk's ad lib three years ago in 'The Producers' was the best thing to come to Stars Hollow since President Clinton's third cousin's barber."

"Goes to show you that this town is too easily amused," Luke pointed out.

"Fine. No ad-libbing," Lorelai consented. "But do I get any creative freedom here?"

"Need I remind you who's doubling as the director AND the Wizard?"

Lorelai looked down at Toto. "I still think Toto needs a rabid friend. The play would end so much sooner!"

"Somehow I don't think Taylor would approve. You left off at 'Come on Toto'," Luke pointed out as the phone rang.

Lorelai groaned. "How many times do I have to yell at the phone to make it realize that I don't want it to ring?"

Luke put the script down on the table, crossing his arms. "Seeing as how it's an inanimate object, I don't think it's going to understand, no matter how many times you tell it. Just let it go."

"I can't. It may be Sookie at the inn, there's a huge family reunion there today that may or may not run smoothly," Lorelai said, reaching for the phone. "Hello?"

"Lorelai, good, I'm glad we could reach you. We wanted to know if we could have you at rehearsal a little early today, say, now? We're having a lot of trouble with stage direction and Dorothy's placement is key to the issue," Taylor asked.

Lorelai looked at Luke. "Uh, come to rehearsal early?" she repeated, trying to repeat the ordeal so Luke could understand what was going on. "Taylor, I actually have guests at the house right now, but I'll make it over as soon as I can."

Taylor chuckled. "Very well. Entertaining guests is always stressful, just give us a buzz if you can't make it right at eleven. But I will expect you to make it by quarter past eleven."

She tried to hold back a laugh at Taylor's gracious fifteen minute extension. "Thanks, Taylor, those fifteen minutes will do wonders."

"See you then, Lorelai," Taylor said, hanging up the phone.

Luke shook his head. "Taylor's an idiot. What did he say?"

"I have a fifteen minute extension because of my house guest," she teased. "Entertaining guests is just so stressful, and those fifteen minutes are a gracious extension! I also have to call him if I wish to use those fifteen minutes!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if his New Year's Resolution last year was to take over the world," Luke replied.

Lorelai reached for the second cup of coffee. "Me either."

Luke watched as Lorelai got up to throw the first empty cup of coffee in the trash. He pointed to her cup of coffee. "You're already on your second cup?"

"I am the coffee champion of the world. Coffee that sits too long gets nasty. Besides, you have free refills," Lorelai pointed out. "I like to use them."

"Now that you said that, I'm capping it at two," Luke said, picking up the script again.

Lorelai snorted. "And I don't own every U2 album there is."

"What are you talking about?" Luke groaned.

"You always serve me and Rory first, no matter how busy the diner is. You give us extra bacon with the bacon and eggs. Trust me, I've heard many a complaint about how Kirk only gets four pieces and we get six."

Luke looked down at the script. "It's your line."

"Aunt Em, Aunt Em," Lorelai said dryly.

"Are you going to do this?" Luke asked.

"As soon as you stop sidestepping the subject," Lorelai insisted.

Luke pointed to the script. "I can leave and you won't have to use those fifteen minutes."

"It's your line! Aunt Em is counting something, chickens, I think. Then I say something about Miss Gulch and Aunt Em's too busy to deal with me," Lorelai pointed out.

"Looks like you know that first scene," Luke pointed out.

"You just don't want to play Aunt Em," Lorelai teased. "You can't do it!"

He shook his head. "I'm reading lines, I'm not dressing up in costume to do this. And…"

"You can't do it," Lorelai teased. "You won't, it compromises your masculinity."

"Dorothy, please! We're trying to count! Fifty-eight…"

Lorelai pointed to Luke. "Auntie Em! Auntie Em!" she teased, laughing and taking another sip of her coffee. "You're never going to live that down."

"I think it's your line," Luke said.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "I'll let you go for today. Do you think you may be able to run lines tomorrow night? I'll come to the diner at close while Rory's sleeping over Lane's. Please?"

"Come by at nine," Luke said. "And I'll help you."

She smiled. "You know, in all of this teasing, and all of the… healthy conversation, I never did thank you for coming. Thanks."

"You're welcome. I kind of owe you," he said, handing her the script. He put on his jacket. "See you tomorrow."

"Probably today after rehearsal, I'll need food," Lorelai said, shrugging.

"Whichever comes first, then. See you."

"Bye, Luke," Lorelai said as she watched him walk out the door and drive away. She held the script in one hand and her coffee in the other, groaning at the realization that she had to spend the next four hours with Kirk, Taylor, and the rest of the crazies in the town. "Here we go," she said, walking upstairs to make herself look halfway decent.


	3. Negotiations

Lorelai pulled into the parking lot of Stars Hollow High, where every function seemed to take place. She wondered if Taylor had some sort of executive privilege in using the gymnasium for every event. Was it in his contract or something? She sighed. Add it to the list of life's imponderables, up there with 'if swimming is such good exercise, then why are whales so fat?'

She walked into the gymnasium and took off her coat, seating herself on the bleachers and opening the script. She was suddenly thankful for Rory's giant paperclip that held her place in the script. As she started to refresh her memory regarding the scene immediately following "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", a tap on the shoulder made her jump. She turned around.

"Kirk, please, make your presence known when you want to speak to me. Someday, I'm going to learn self defense and you won't have a chance," Lorelai said, putting her hand to her heart.

"My apologies. Do you have a copy of the script nearby?" Kirk asked.

Lorelai held up the thick script she'd been looking over. "No, Kirk, this is a treasure map, actually. The script's at home."

"You're reading a treasure map that thick?"

She handed Kirk the script. "That was a joke, Kirk. Seriously, did the doctor take out your funny bone when your appendix burst?"

"I'm not sure. Where is your funny bone?"

"You can borrow the script, Kirk," Lorelai said, completely ignoring Kirk to avoid getting into discussion of the human anatomy with him. "Where's your copy?"

Kirk took off the giant paperclip and started flipping the pages. "Taylor's adding stage directions. And Andrew and I are having a debate about which character needs the brain, the heart, and the courage."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay, Kirk, you uh… have fun with that one, just give me back the script when you're done, okay?"

"Affirmative," Kirk said.

Walking toward Taylor, Lorelai shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe that remembering which character needed which items was so difficult for Kirk and Andrew. "Excuse me, Taylor?"

"Lorelai, you're here early! It's great to have you! Would you mind running through the first scene with Fran?" Taylor asked.

Lorelai nodded. "Sure, I'll do that for you, Taylor."

"But first we need to work out the kinks in your contract," Taylor insisted, producing a three page long document in tiny print.

Lorelai flipped through the contract and gave Taylor a strange look. "What's this for? This is all volunteer, right?"

"But you're our star, Lorelai, and we want you to be happy. Please take a look at this and bring it back with revisions," Taylor insisted.

"Uh, okay, well, I'll give this to my agent later," Lorelai said jokingly, walking away. She shrugged, rolling up the contract and hitting her left palm with it. He probably wanted to use her likeness for photos or something. She'd have to look it over later. This idea was getting weirder and weirder by the second.

She got up on the stage and sat on the edge, her legs dangling. She sat and watched as Taylor tried again and again to position Kirk, Morey, and Andrew on stage. Lorelai looked around the floor of the stage and caught sight of a program. She groaned, reaching for it while sitting in the same spot. The play wasn't even past its first stages of rehearsal, and here Taylor was, making programs already.

Opening the program was the first idea she got of the rest of the cast. Folding the left side containing the "Doose's" ad under the right, she looked at the "Cast of Characters" list on the right. Of course Taylor's name was first, he was Oz. She shook her head, laughing out loud. Typical Taylor. Her name was next, followed by Kirk's. Her eyes scanned to the right column, where the word "scarecrow" was.

As if Kirk playing the scarecrow wasn't enough, Morey was the tin man. Lorelai couldn't help but imagine the disastrous consequences of the height difference between Kirk and Morey, especially. Lorelai was rather graceful if she tried to be (if she had the practice, that is), but Kirk would probably sustain some sort of injury before Opening Night.

Andrew was cast as the cowardly lion. She should have known, she did hear him rolling his tongue as she walked in, challenging Kirk and saying "put 'em up, put 'em up." She folded the program and put it in her purse. She surely wasn't needed on stage yet, anyway. Checking her cell phone for missed calls (she had none), she groaned. This was going to be a lot of waiting time.

"Lorelai, would you come over here, please?" Taylor asked.

Lorelai walked up the stairs to the stage. "What's up?" she asked.

Taylor sighed. "We thought these guys would be ready for you by now, but apparently they aren't. Why don't you take a lunch and come back around two?"

She plastered on her 'no, I'm not annoyed' smile and nodded. "You got it, Taylor. See you at two."

"Our star takes one for the team, gentlemen. See to it that you step up your game!" Taylor insisted, pulling Kirk by the arm and repositioning him stage left.

Lorelai thumped down the stairs, grabbed her purse, and went out into the Jeep. She put the key in the ignition and sat in the driver's seat for a moment, going nowhere. She groaned. "I can't believe this," she said to herself, putting the Jeep in drive and making her way to Luke's. She got a decent parking spot and claimed a stool at the counter.

"Hurricane Lorelai blows in from the East…" Luke teased.

She crossed her arms. "Not funny. Really. The most un-funny thing I've seen since 'Kindergarten Cop'."

"Practice went that bad, huh?" Luke asked, pouring Lorelai some coffee.

She threw her hands in the air. "I didn't even get to rehearse! Kirk decided he still didn't get the difference between stage left and stage right, and Andrew kept making purring noises…"

"Okay, you want to back up and put the purring into context for me?" Luke asked.

Lorelai reached into her purse and pulled out the program. "Okay. Here's the cast of characters, are you ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," Luke groaned.

"Taylor Doose… the Wizard of Oz," Lorelai said.

Luke sighed. "Surprise, surprise."

"The lovely and talented, beautiful newcomer Lorelai Gilmore as Dorothy Gale," Lorelai said, looking up at Luke, waiting for his commentary regarding her role. When she got no comment, she sighed. "Fine, I guess you say nothing about me."

"I already knew you were Dorothy," Luke pointed out.

"Kirk is the Scarecrow, Andrew is the cowardly lion, and Morey is a freakishly tall tin man," Lorelai supplied.

Luke started to wipe down the other end of the counter. "That could be dangerous."

"I keep having visions of Kirk dragging us all down. It's going to be a painful show."

"If he doesn't break something before then."

Lorelai sighed. "So true. Miss Patty is Glinda the Good Witch, Babette is the Wicked Witch of the West. Fran is Auntie Em, Harry the Twinkle Light Man is Uncle Henry."

"Isn't Fran a little… old for that part?" Luke asked.

"Not according to Taylor," Lorelai replied, taking a sip of her coffee. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her contract that she had purposely not looked over with Taylor earlier. "And he wants me to sign this."

Luke unrolled the sheets of paper and put them on the counter. He took a nearby bottle of ketchup and placed it on the top right corner of the paper, and took a salt shaker and placed it on the left corner. He shook his head. "Taylor's crazy. There's way too much rehearsal time in there, you run Mia's inn, you can't be there all those hours. And to think that you're also away from Rory all of this time… no way. Didn't you confront him about this?"

"Slow down, gunpowder, I haven't even read the contract yet. First, I won't allow him to take up that much time. I give him my Saturday afternoons and Sunday afternoons. Second, who are you, my agent?"

"Did you negotiate this with him?" Luke asked. "He's crazy. Now I wish I never would have done the bake off."

"This has nothing to do with the bake off. Trust me. Give me your pen," Lorelai said, reaching out for the pen. She crossed out the practice times and changed other parts of the contract around. "I said rehearsal on Saturdays and voice on Sundays. That's it. Trust me, Luke, they can't say no to their star."

"Wow, your ego got awfully big all of a sudden. Remember the little people who kept you alive before you became famous and ate in Woodbury," Luke said.

Lorelai laughed. "Okay, that was funny. Really, Luke, what I meant was that I'm doing them a favor. It's a fundraiser, and it's supposed to be fun. See, the first three letters of the word even say so. We are raising fun as well as funds. So, fear not, I will work it out with him. Why are you so concerned, anyway?"

"You'd drink all my coffee if you were overtired."

"How is that different from normal?" Lorelai asked.

"You've got a point," Luke replied, handing her a cheeseburger with chili fries on the side.

"Check mate," Lorelai said, pointing to him. "And I'll be sure to shamelessly promote the diner when all the magazines interview me and ask me where my favorite place to eat is."

"You're crazy," Luke insisted.

"Do you really want me to give you a Britney Spears song interlude right now?" she asked, popping a chili fry in her mouth and downing it with a gulp of coffee.

Rory walked into the diner at that moment. She took a seat next to Lorelai at the counter and poked her in the shoulder. "Fancy meeting you here," she teased.

"I didn't do a bird call or use the dog whistle, how'd you know I was here?" Lorelai asked, handing Rory a chili fry.

"Mrs. Kim wanted a dozen bran muffins, and she decided to give her business to Luke. She thinks his lack of variety in the way he dresses constitutes a need for her charity," Rory explained.

"She's just Mother Teresa reincarnated, isn't she?" Lorelai asked. "Did you tell her how I basically keep Luke's open with the amount of coffee I drink?"

Rory shrugged. "She thinks coffee is for sinners. I didn't want her to hex you or something."

Lorelai nodded. "Fair enough. How's the day with Lane?"

"Fun! We've gone through all of her old issues of 'Rolling Stone' and made a list of the top ten songs of each year in the 80's."

"Please tell me you considered me on this list," Lorelai said, taking a sip of coffee.

"Belinda makes an appearance," Rory teased. "Hey, Luke, Mrs. Kim sent me to pick up her bran muffins she called in earlier."

"Sure, Rory, coming right up," Luke said, disappearing into the kitchen.

Rory turned her attention to her mother. "How was practice?"

"I'm under contract now," Lorelai mused, showing Rory Taylor's contract.

"This may be worth money some day," Rory said. "Just don't give it to someone to sell, okay?"

Lorelai shook her head. "It's all yours, babe. Oh, look yummy bran muffins!"

Rory raised her eyebrows. "Be nice to me. I'm the one that proofreads your annual reviews."

"Must you hold that over my head?"

"I take what I can get," Rory said, handing Luke a twenty dollar bill. "I'm supposed to tell you to keep the change."

Luke looked at the money in his hand. "She's got like, fifteen dollars worth of change."

Rory nodded. "She knows."

"If you don't want it, you can donate it to the Lorelai fund," Lorelai said, opening her purse and holding it out for Luke. "Trick or treat!"

"Bye, Rory, tell her thank you," Luke said.

"You're not giving any change?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, she could call you greedy for keeping it all," Lorelai mused. "Maybe it's a test, you know, to see whether you're a kindhearted person by whether or not she gets change back."

Luke sighed. "Arguing with Mrs. Kim is pointless. She's creative, but not that creative. Thanks, Rory, have a good time."

"I added Jethro Tull on one of the lists for you, Luke," Rory said, hopping off the stool. "And thanks."

"Bye, hon!" Lorelai called after Rory. "Eat a yummy muffin for me!"

Rory stopped at the door. "Find another editor," she said in a sing songy voice as she walked out.

Lorelai snapped her fingers. "Are you a good speller?"

"I'm already helping you read lines," Luke pointed out.

She grabbed her contract. "Fine. Thanks for the burger. I'll see you later."

"Later today?"

"I'll need dinner eventually," Lorelai replied, shoving the contract in her purse and walking out the door.


	4. Voice Lessons

Lorelai emerged from the bedroom at about one the next afternoon. Her first stop was to the kitchen, looking for coffee. After opening nearly every cabinet in the kitchen, plus the refrigerator and the oven, she couldn't find any. Realizing she had little time left before her first voice lesson with Miss Patty at three, she quickly tapped on Rory's door. Rory pulled the door open and smiled.

"Good Morning, Sunshine," she teased. "Or should I say, good afternoon?"

"We have coffee?" Lorelai mumbled, her eyes barely open.

Rory nodded. "We should, why?"

"Opened things. Looked. No coffee," she said, throwing her arms in the air.

"How can there be no coffee? I just made some."

"Dunno. Need coffee," Lorelai replied, rubbing her eyes and walking into the room, throwing herself onto Rory's bed.

Rory shook her head, walking into the kitchen. "See, I think you must have overlooked it. We have coffee. I made some this morning," she called, shutting the cabinets one by one as she narrowed down the possible locations of the missing coffee. "A ha! On the counter!"

Lorelai didn't move. She simply muttered "Thanks", gave a 'thumbs up' sign of approval to Rory, and took Rory's pillow, hugging it close to her.

"Mom, you have to get up eventually."

Lorelai sat up. "No… I had dreams all night about the play."

"Stage fright?" Rory asked.

"Injury," Lorelai corrected, holding out her hands for Rory to pull her off of the bed.

"Who got injured in the dream?" Rory questioned, pulling Lorelai up.

Lorelai shrugged. "The entire cast. Kirk fell, which caused us all to fall, we were linked," she started, putting the filter into the coffee pot. "Morey hit the scenery, it fell on Taylor, and all the Munchkins."

Rory giggled. "Bloodshed in Oz. That's not the way the story goes."

Pulling herself away from the counter, Lorelai sat at the kitchen table next to Rory. "You okay with me doing this play? I need an excuse."

"No excuses. You're in, Dorothy," Rory said, putting her chin in her hands.

"Whatever happened to supporting Mommy in her time of need?"

Rory shrugged. "I think you got yourself into this one all on your own. With a little help from Luke. You guys running lines again today?"

"Maybe later. Depends on how busy the diner is, I don't want to bother him too much."

"And since when do you worry about bothering him?"

"Since I have no caffeine in my system," Lorelai groaned.

"Noted," Rory said.

The coffee pot beeped and Lorelai shot up from the table to pour herself a cup. She poured the coffee, took one long sip, and returned to the table. She let out a sigh, putting the cup on the table and looking at Rory sitting across from her. "I have voice lessons today."

"That you do," Rory confirmed.

Lorelai groaned, laying her arm out on the table and putting her head on it. "I hate voice lessons with a burning passion. Like wildfire type burning. It's really intense."

"How do you know you hate them if you've never tried them?"

"Oh, Rory, babe, I never mentioned that Emily and Richard forced me to take voice lessons three times a week until I was fifteen?" Lorelai asked, shaking her head.

"Well you just did," Rory started.

"They were just set on the fact that I was to be the girl picked to do the Senior solo at my high school," Lorelai explained, taking another long sip of coffee. "The Senior solo was this big, important song, usually a Mariah, Whitney, or Celine type ballad. That stupid song always made the whole audience cry and clap, and they'd give a standing ovation to the girl picked! Her parents would be the most popular in the social circuit, and record executives would fall at their feet, giving the girl perks and contract offers!"

Rory scrunched up her nose. "Why would grandma and grandpa want you to be a superstar?"

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Ah, they didn't. I would turn them down to go to Princeton. Thank you, sweets, for saving me from an unimaginable fate."

"Sure thing," Rory said, patting Lorelai on the shoulder. "I have Algebra homework. Go to voice lessons, missy, or I'll send for the flying monkeys."

"Is that a threat?" Lorelai grumbled.

"Think of it as one, or else you'll never get your butt to lessons. I'll have a Lifetime movie waiting when you get home!"

Lorelai crossed her arms. "Fine. But it better be a good one. Like the one with the girl who needs insulin after she gets kidnapped, so the kidnapper takes her to a horse farm and gives her animal insulin."

Rory smiled. "Of course."

Lorelai finished her coffee, pulled out Chinese food leftovers, and threw them all on a serving platter. After all, the platter was the only way to get all the food on there. She barely managed to fit the platter in the microwave, but realized that the plate wouldn't turn. She sighed, pulling the platter out and splitting it onto two plates.

She munched at the Chinese food while looking at the sheet music for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". She sighed, realizing that she knew every word, but the actual music component to it would be more difficult than she recalled. Lorelai knew she wasn't a terrible singer, but she was far more comfortable singing in the Jeep or in the shower than in front of people.

After about an hour of blankly staring at the sheet music, she got dressed and ready to go to Miss Patty's. She hoped that Miss Patty would be the only one there, because she hadn't had a formal lesson in years. She knocked on the door to the studio and Miss Patty answered it.

"Lorelai, darling, come in," Miss Patty said, motioning to the piano in the studio.

Lorelai smiled, shoving her hands in her pockets and walking over to the piano. "So, uh, I haven't…"

Miss Patty held up her hand. "Your concerns are not even worth talking about, Lorelai, I'm sure you will do fine. You said you took lessons before, right?"

"Not since I was fifteen. I never took it seriously, anyway," Lorelai said.

"And since then, have you sang in front of anyone?"

"In front of the mirror, with a hairbrush as the microphone," Lorelai teased.

Miss Patty nodded and let out a chuckle. "All right, then, let's get started. No pressure, all right? We'll take this first lesson easy."

Lorelai let out a sigh of relief. "All right," she said, rubbing her hands together, her concerns now gone. "Let's do this."

"The Lorelai we know and love," Miss Patty said, taking a seat at the piano bench.

Miss Patty and Lorelai ran through the song about three times before they were interrupted by the door to the studio opening. Lorelai continued to sing a few words before realizing that the door and opened and the piano had stopped. She quickly turned around to find that Luke was standing in the doorway with food.

"Hey," she said, letting out a nervous laugh.

He waved. "Hey, how's the lesson going?"

She nodded. "Good, good. You brought food?"

"Patty figured you'd need a break, and she swears off all that 'eat and drink certain things before singing' crap for amateurs, apparently. She asked me to bring this stuff by for you awhile ago, so, here I am."

Lorelai smiled. "Thanks for thinking of me," she said.

"Patty did, don't thank me," Luke replied.

"Hey, Patty, I'm going to take a quick break, is that all right?" Lorelai asked.

Miss Patty nodded. "Of course, dollface, I'll be here when you're ready."

Lorelai grabbed a bag of takeout from Luke's hand and opened the door to the studio, sitting on a bench nearby. "God, I need to sit. My diaphragm hurts."

"Can your diaphragm actually hurt?"

"Okay, so I'm no doctor, but something in this general vicinity hurts, and it's not because it's my time of the month," Lorelai replied, taking a bite of the cheeseburger Luke made.

Luke turned red. "Ah, jeez."

She giggled. "I love making you turn red, it amuses me."

"Change the subject?"

Lorelai nodded in agreement. "Absolutely."

"Kirk asked me to run lines with him, too."

She gasped in pretend shock, shoving a fry into her mouth. "So, what did you tell him?"

"What do you think I told him, I told him 'no'," Luke replied, crossing his arms.

Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God, I don't want to share my lines running partner with anyone!"

"He offered me a hundred dollars," Luke replied.

"And yet you remain loyal, you're a good guy, my friend. No Benedict Arnold references will be thrown around with your name included," Lorelai said.

"That's a good thing," Luke said.

Lorelai ate some of her cheeseburger and took a sip of the coffee Luke brought her, while pondering if he had heard her singing. "So, uh… when you came in… did you hear me singing?"

"Yeah, a little, why?"

Lorelai raised her eyebrows and laughed nervously. "Uh, well, I just… wasn't quite prepared for an audience yet."

"I didn't take note of the skill with which you sang, I just heard it," Luke said. "Plus, you'll have to be prepared for an audience eventually."

She nodded. "Yes, but not yet," she insisted, shoving a bite of the cheeseburger in her mouth. "I gotta get back, I'll see you tonight."

"You're coming to the diner tonight?"

"After Rory and I watch a movie about a girl who gets horse insulin," she explained.

Luke gave Lorelai a look of confusion. "Okay, then, uh, you have fun, if that's possible with the type of movie that this seems to be, and I'll see you two later."

"See ya," Lorelai said, waving to him as he walked. "And thanks for the food."


	5. Not in Kansas Anymore

Things went smoothly for the next two weeks. Lorelai was able to juggle her duties at the inn and her duties as Dorothy without a problem. Until one hectic day at the inn. Even though she'd spent all night trying to get past the Cowardly Lion scene, Lorelai went to work at the inn, carrying the script with her everywhere she went. She hoped that the lack of Monday business would allow her to get some quality line learning time. While the guests of the inn found it charming that she was going to be in the local production, Michel didn't seem to find it as fascinating.

"Lorelai? Will you ever put down that script and answer the telephone?" Michel grumbled.

Lorelai turned to Michel. Before she could get a word in to defend herself, Sookie came running out from the kitchen. "Uh, we have a slight problem," she said, pulling Lorelai by the wrist and leading her into the kitchen.

"What's wrong, hon?" Lorelai asked, noting the concern in Sookie's tone of voice.

Sookie pointed to the stove. "That's what's wrong."

"Honey, I'm going to need a few more hints before I start playing 20 Questions. Charades or cue cards may help, too," Lorelai insisted.

"It won't turn on," Sookie grumbled. "And I have 500 cookies to bake."

"All right, I'll give someone a call and see if they can take a look at it. Until then, breathe easy, okay? Set all the cookies out on trays and put them over here. That way you'll have that part finished. No stress, we can handle this one," Lorelai said, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Right?"

Sookie smiled. "All right, that's a good idea. Wow, no stress, huh?"

"No stress at all," Lorelai said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "I'll be back with an estimated arrival time."

Lorelai called someone to take a look at the oven and opened the script again. She had all her lines, to the scene where Dorothy meets the Tin Man, committed to memory and was now working on the next scene. She closed the script and clipped the page, bending over to turn on the computer as she recited the lines in her head. The ringing phone startled her and she glared at Michel, who picked it up.

"Lorelai, the guests in room twenty six are experiencing a lack of hot water when they shower and want you to do something about it," Michel droned, hanging up the telephone.

"Michel, you know the number to the water guy, correct?"

"Yes, but it is your job as my boss to fix the things that are wrong," Michel replied.

Lorelai shook her head. "New Independence Inn rule. If you are notified that there's something wrong, take care of it first, then come to me. It will do wonders on your annual review."

"Noted," Michel grumbled, dialing the number on the phone.

As Lorelai went back to studying her script, and making some progress, she heard the telephone ring again. Turning to see that Michel wasn't anywhere near it, she picked it up herself. "Independence Inn, Lorelai speaking," she answered.

"Mom, hey!" Rory said from the other line.

"Hey, sweets, how's eighth grade? Do you feel tall yet? I remember being in Kindergarten and looking up at the eighth graders saying, 'wow, they're tall', and not knowing if I'd ever get that tall. Then when I hit eighth grade, I realized that I was the tallest girl in my class. Go figure."

Rory giggled. "Sure, I feel tall. Hey, listen, when you come home tonight, I have the latest episode of 'Jeopardy' taped, so we can mock Alex Trebek's new look."

Lorelai sighed. "Aw, hon, I'm running lines with Luke tonight."

"Oh," Rory said, sounding slightly disappointed.

A guilty feeling overwhelmed Lorelai, and she looked at her watch. "Okay, I'll cut my lines rehearsal short, and we'll push back the Jeopardy to eight-ish? Meet me at Luke's?"

"Okay!" Rory replied, sounding thrilled that Lorelai had made time for her. "I just really missed you this weekend."

"The missing is mutual, kid, see you at eight."

"With bells on," Rory teased, hanging up the phone.

Lorelai rubbed her temples. This day wasn't going so great, and the play was fast approaching. Taylor really should have thought to ask for a Dorothy way, way far in advance, not six weeks before the play. She sighed. Her time away from Rory was obviously not a good thing, and the lack of work should have been her savior. But when Sookie came out, her eyes looking red and puffy, Lorelai didn't even want to ask.

"Lorelai?" Sookie asked, sounding guilty.

She knew she had to ask Sookie what was wrong now. She sighed and straightened up, looking at Sookie. "I am Pat Benatar, hit me with your best shot."

Sookie giggled nervously. "Okay, uh, remember those cookies?"

Lorelai nodded. "Oven guy's on his way."

"Well, that's great, but I don't have anything to bake," Sookie admitted.

Lorelai sighed. "What happened?"

Sookie cleared her throat. "Well, uh, I was putting them where you told me to, and then, uh, Paul, he did the thing with the ladle that the one armed drummer from Def Leppard can still do, you know, spinning it around? Well, I happened to be walking by, and…"

Lorelai put her head in her hands. "Say no more. How quickly can you make some more cookie batter?"

"Well, I can make some really fast, but that puts us behind a little because they aren't all ready to go into the oven once it's fixed. And then we have to push back the cupcakes and the truffles, which makes the fudge impossible."

"Well, I guess the Sweet Tooth convention is going to have to live without one of the above," Lorelai said. "Go fix it."

Sookie scurried back into the kitchen and Lorelai put her script down onto the desk, putting the paper clip back and shutting it. She wasn't going to have any time to look at the script before she ran lines with Luke. Hopefully he'd let her slide this once, after she explained the happenings of the day to him.

She ushered the oven guy into the kitchen, where a very relieved Sookie hugged him, and brought the shower guy to the room without the hot water. This was turning out to be a very long day.

Her shift at the inn was finally over and she headed to Luke's. Walking into the diner, she looked to see that it was nearly empty. She held the script high in the air and dropped it on the counter in the diner, partly trying to amuse herself and partly doing it to get Luke's attention.

"You could have called my name you know," Luke grumbled, picking up the script and switching the paper clip to the other side.

Lorelai sighed. "Luke, I had a terrible day, and you're not helping. I'm trying to make myself feel better."

"All right, let's run through this once and you can tell me about it," Luke said.

"I don't want to run lines, Luke! This play is taking over my life! I haven't spent any time with Rory in a week, I'm suffering at work, I'm always here with you, and…"

Luke put the script down and Lorelai could sense that she had really hurt Luke by what she'd accidentally let slip out. He poured her a cup of coffee and walked away. Lorelai groaned, putting her head in her hands. "Luke, I didn't…"

"No, I get it. You aren't in the mood to run lines today, I'm taking away from your time with Rory."

Lorelai sighed. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Well, it sounded like you meant it," he replied.

She shook her head. "I didn't. I'm just so stressed out. I'm beginning to think we're not in Kansas anymore, Kansas being the state of no stress."

"I understand," Luke said.

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "You think that was convincing?"

"Sure. Go home and be with Rory, I'll give this to you 'to go'," Luke said, pouring the coffee in the 'to go' cup.

Lorelai took the cup and took a deep breath. "Luke, I'm…"

"Go be with Rory, it's okay, she's your kid," Luke said, handing her the script. "Coffee's on me."

She walked out the door with the script and the coffee, feeling really guilty about what went on. She made her way back to the Crap Shack to find Rory sitting on the floor in front of the couch with all her books spread across the coffee table. "You're back early," she said.

"I am."

"What's wrong, you look stressed," Rory pointed out.

"Don't worry about me."

Rory got up and grabbed Lorelai by the wrist, leading her to the couch. "I missed you, and now you're upset about something. Talk to me, I'll help you fix it."

"Don't cry for me Argentina…" Lorelai sang under her breath.

Rory giggled. "What's wrong?"

Lorelai took off her jacket. "I had a bad day at the inn, and I got stressed and I took it out on Luke."

"And you still got coffee? I have a beef with my Science teacher, can I use him to get donuts tomorrow?" Rory teased.

"He wasn't happy. I said some really mean things and I…"

Rory patted Lorelai on the knee. "Go apologize, run lines. I'll be fine here for a little while."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Unless you want to give him a chance to cool off? A few episodes of 'Jeopardy!' may do the trick," Rory insisted.

Lorelai kicked off her shoes and grabbed a pillow. "All right, I'll go back later tonight."

Rory popped in the tape, chattering away about Alex Trebek's suit. They got through two episodes before Lorelai tapped Rory on the shoulder. "Jeez, it's like that episode of Scooby Doo when Shaggy gets poked by the monster."

"You mean every episode?"

"True."

"I'm going to apologize."

"Good luck," Rory said.

Lorelai walked out the door to the Crap Shack and quickly made her way to the diner. She opened the door and sat at the counter, playing with a ring on her finger. He walked out of the kitchen and she quickly stood up from the stool. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," he replied, turning around and taking the coffee pot out of the coffee maker.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have taken my stress out on you. You've been my lifeline through all of this," she said, sitting back down.

He sighed. "I understand."

"No, no, I was so mean. I'm so sorry. I was like Jekyll-Hyde, but I was really the Hyde part today," she said, genuinely feeling bad.

He nodded. "It's no big deal. You straighten things out with Rory?"

Lorelai nodded. "She told me to straighten them out with you," she answered.

"Oh."

"Are we okay?" she asked.

Luke nodded. "We're okay. Need more coffee?"

She sighed. "Yes, please, I'm going to have to pull an all nighter to get through act two."

He poured her the coffee and took the script. She let out a sigh of relief as he opened it up, waiting for her to say the first line of the play. She'd have to find a new way to deal with this… she definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore.


	6. Thespians of Stars Hollow

"People, people, this is the last night of regular rehearsal, and we still haven't gotten 'Ding Dong the Witch is Dead'? Come ON, you're supposed to be the thespians of Stars Hollow, now act like it," Taylor ordered through his megaphone.

Lorelai stood in the middle of the stage, wondering again why the rest of the world couldn't get the easiest song in the movie. She walked off the stage, taking a sip of coffee, and walked back onstage. Taylor had already changed the scene, to the poppies in the field scene. Lorelai was relieved. All she had to do was lie down and wait, and let the supposed 'thespians' do their job.

"Kirk, no, you're over here," Taylor said, pointing to the other side. "We've been rehearsing for weeks, and you still don't know the difference between stage left and stage right!"

Lorelai sat up, pulling her knees to her chest. She looked up at the changes being made around her and sighed. Apparently Taylor picked up on Lorelai's frustration.

"Lorelai, why don't you grab something to eat? We'll get this all straightened out and we'll put you in the scene afterwards?" he suggested.

She got up off of the stage floor, brushing off her sweatpants. "Sure, Taylor," she said, plastering on a smile and walking offstage. She grabbed her jacket and headed to the Crap Shack. After all, a meal with Rory would certainly bring her stress levels down. She opened the door and giggled as she nearly tripped. "Lucy! I'm home!"

"Hey," Rory said, looking up from her book. She knelt on the couch, looking over the back of it. "How was practice? You're home awfully early for the amount of work you said that they had to do."

"Well," Lorelai started, "Taylor started with the scene everyone but me's having trouble with. So, he told me to take a lunch. And I'm looking for an escort to the diner."

"Maybe Hugh Grant can hook you up," Rory teased.

Lorelai playfully hit Rory with a throw pillow on the couch. "You hungry? I'll treat you to Luke's," she said, trying to convince Rory to leave the house.

"You always treat," Rory pointed out.

"True," Lorelai sighed. "But maybe we can annoy Luke today."

"You always do that, too. I'm beginning to think that today is just a hum-drum, boring, run of the mill, trite…"

"All right, my human thesaurus, you want extra chili fries?" Lorelai asked.

Rory nodded. "Be out in ten minutes. You're a decent negotiator," she teased.

Lorelai sat on the couch, opening the script once again. She had memorized all her lines, surprisingly enough. Dress rehearsal started the next Saturday, and Lorelai had yet to start making her costume. She sighed. This was going to be the easy part, sewing and putting together the costume. She still had dress rehearsal to get through.

"To Luke's?" Rory asked.

Lorelai nodded in agreement. "I'm starved."

The two walked to Luke's, which was in the middle of the lunch rush. Taking a seat, Lorelai waved to Luke as he turned around. He walked to their table and opened his ordering pad. "What can I get for you?" he asked.

"I'll have a cheeseburger, extra cheese times a zillion, and chili fries, extra chili to the moon and back," Lorelai said.

Luke turned to Rory. "And I'm guessing that you're going to have the same thing?"

She nodded. "Make it two, and I'll have a chocolate shake, please."

He went back into the kitchen and Lorelai pulled out her script. "Want to run lines with me? I was going to ask Luke, but he's busy."

Rory scrunched up her nose. "I'm the understudy to the line runner? It's nice to know where your priorities lie," she teased, taking the script.

"But I love you, my little second string line runner," Lorelai replied, giving Rory a wink.

"Where am I starting from?" Rory grumbled.

Lorelai shrugged. "Surprise me."

"Mom, you know running lines isn't really a surprise, right?" Rory asked.

"Well, I have to make sure I'm ready for every scene in the play, right? I mean, say that I get back to practice today, and Kirk and Andrew are finally ready to link arms with each other. We'd have to know the lines from that part of the play," Lorelai pointed out.

As Lorelai and Rory debated the significance or insignificance of the starting point of the line running session, Taylor walked into Luke's with fliers. "Attention Citizens! The thespians of Stars Hollow have been working so hard to finally present to you, 'The Wizard of Oz'. Next Friday at seven, some of your favorite townspeople will take you on a magical journey to the land of Oz! Tickets are five dollars and all proceeds benefit the rebuilding of the bridge!"

Taylor had gotten through his entire speech by the time Luke came out of the kitchen. Exasperated, Luke opened the door and ushered Taylor out. "Yeah, yeah, Taylor, we all know when the play is, we all know what time and where it will be. Now take your fliers and go, will ya?"

"Apparently Luke has no appreciation for fine art," Taylor grumbled as Luke escorted him out.

Luke walked over to the counter, grabbed Lorelai and Rory's food and brought it to the table. "Cheeseburger with way too much cheese, cheeseburger with even more cheese," he said, placing the plates in front of Lorelai and Rory respectively. "And chili fries. Sorry about Taylor, I figured your lunch break should be your lunch break, not a business lunch."

Lorelai nodded. "You're so sweet to be thinking of me, Luke. I thank you."

"Well, Taylor also annoys the heck out of me, so it was no problem. Let me know if you need anything," Luke replied, beginning to walk away.

Lorelai pulled on his arm. "Ooh! I need to get a job as a hand model on the Home shopping network. Would you hook me up?"

"Let me know when I can get season tickets to the Red Sox without selling my soul on the black market and you got yourself a deal," he said, pulling his arm away and walking back.

Rory giggled. "You're tormenting him!"

"By the sound of the giggle I don't think you object, there," Lorelai said, shoving a French fry in her mouth.

Rory shook her head. "Do as I say, not as I do. Now, stop torturing poor Luke. He runs lines with you, poor soul."

"You make him sound like poor Keri Strug after she stuck the landing, so helpless and in pain!"

"No, I think what you're putting him through is more in line with a Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan type pain."

"We know way too much about female Olympians. It's cutting it close to sports," Lorelai said, shuddering and taking a sip of her coffee.

Rory sighed. "Just be grateful he didn't leave you to dangle and become a 'thespian' of Stars Hollow."

"Well, I've always thought the word 'thespian' was weird, anyway," Lorelai said. "What are your plans for tonight?"

"Well, I have Algebra to do again. And some reading. Luke can read lines at the Crap Shack if you want, and then we can whip out the blue checkered material and you can start sewing while we watch a really mind numbing movie," Rory suggested.

"While Luke's over?" Lorelai asked.

Rory shook her head. "Mind you that the reading lines takes place during my Algebra. I need mind numbing movie night after that."

"Got it, I'll see if he's up for it," Lorelai said, getting up from her chair and walking to the counter.

"What are you doing up here?" Luke asked.

"Glad to see you too. Listen, you want to come over tonight, run lines one last time?"

Luke shrugged. "I'll see if I can close early."

She smiled. "Great. We'll see you tonight. Rory will be doing homework, but surely will make an appearance after awhile for food to keep her running like the Energizer bunny."

"Okay, then," Luke said, brushing off the reference. "See you later."

Lorelai nodded and walked back to her seat. "He's coming. I owe him, though. What can I do for Luke that will pay him back for all the nice things he's done?"

"Mom," Rory started, "That could be awfully dirty if you let it be that way."

Lorelai groaned. "Rory, really, not with Luke!" she said, turning red.

"You've been hanging around him way too much lately," Rory said, dropping the straw into the empty milkshake glass.

"You ready to go?" Lorelai asked, leaving money on the table for the bill.

Rory nodded. "Algebra awaits."

"And I have to go back to rehearsal!" Lorelai groaned.

"Good luck with that one," Rory said, patting her mother on the arm. "If you make it out alive, will you bring some Red Vines home for movie night?"

"You betcha," Lorelai said in more of a sarcastic tone. She walked back to the auditorium where Taylor was just sending someone out to look for her. "I'm here, Taylor," she said.

"Good, good. We're going to do the melting scene," he gushed, picking up his megaphone. "Attention thespians. We're staring the melting scene, I repeat. Attention thespians, we're starting the melting scene!"

Lorelai let out a groan, grabbing the empty beach pail they were temporarily using as a prop. "Here we go," she said, under her breath. The rehearsal didn't run for as long as Lorelai had expected, but the 'thespians' still hadn't lived up to their name. Much to her surprise, Luke's truck was already in the driveway when she arrived home. She got out of the Jeep, carrying a bag with Red Vines and peanut butter in it, and walked to the front step, where he was sitting.

"You remember where we keep the key, don't you, Dick Tracy?" Lorelai asked.

"I didn't want to scare Rory when I went in, or rang the doorbell. It's like the phone ringing in the middle of the night, you just can't get back to where you were before," Luke explained.

"How thoughtful of you to prevent an irrevocable time travel," Lorelai replied.

"Wasn't your best comeback."

Lorelai rolled her eyes, unlocking the door. "What can I say, when you spend four hours with the guys who are supposedly 'thespians' but end up looking like 'clowns', you've got yourself more than a lintball of stress here."

"What's with the bag?"

"Rory wanted Red Vines, and I figured while I was there, I'd get peanut butter. Seems to be the lonely grocery item, you know, everybody forgets it, and unless he's with jelly, he gets no love."

"You have the strangest logic," Luke started.

"Ah, but you have the strangest wardrobe, therefore you win," Lorelai pointed out.

Luke shook his head, taking the script from Lorelai. "You're crazy."

She giggled. "I love being crazy. Whoever invented normal is so… boring!"

Luke looked at Lorelai and gave her what could only be interpreted as a smile. "You wouldn't be the same if you were normal."

Lorelai looked at her hands and sighed. "So, uh, what… scene?" she said, putting a strand of hair behind her ear. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Rory, tiptoeing back into her bedroom and softly shutting the door, a smile on her face.

And all of a sudden, she was confused.


	7. Dress Rehearsal

Lorelai felt stupid in her Dorothy costume at first, but seeing Kirk in the Scarecrow costume made her feel a little less weird. And when she saw Andrew, Morey, Babette, and Miss Patty, she felt even better. She stepped onto the stage, watching as Kirk picked at a piece of straw that dug into his neck. She laughed at his inability to reach it, and held his arm away from him as he poked himself in the face with more straw. "Want some help, there, Kirk?" she asked.

"Thank you, I felt like one of those dogs when he has a cone on his head to prevent him from eating the stitches he got," Kirk groaned.

"And here I was, thinking getting poked by fake straw was like a party," Lorelai mused.

Kirk blankly stared at Lorelai, who shook her head in disbelief and walked away, going backstage to find her coffee.

"Looking for this?" a voice said from behind her.

"Rory?" Lorelai asked. "You're a stagehand? Since when do you do the grunt work?"

She nodded. "I originally didn't want to, but then Taylor offered me five dollars an hour."

"You are your mother's daughter," Lorelai teased, reaching for her coffee mug. She took a sip and made a face. "Eew! It's cold!"

Rory grimaced. "Sorry. I'll see if I can track Luke down and grab some for you. I'll be like your assistant!" she said, changing tones.

"You do that, sweets, and I'll focus on the acting and remembering lines thing, okay?"

"We should get jerseys, because we make a good team," Rory mused.

Lorelai shook her head. "We can't be going around throwing too many sports references around. It will do some serious damage to our reputations."

"Whatever you say, boss," Rory said, disappearing behind the curtains.

"Okay, people, let's get started once again! We're going to start it from the beginning, places everyone!" Taylor shouted through his megaphone.

Lorelai walked offstage and entered stage right, and the cast seemed to cooperate with her, until Kirk's first line in the play. "Line," Kirk shouted.

"Kirk, we were halfway into the first part of the play, now you have to make Lorelai strain her vocal cords and start all over again! From the top, people," Taylor insisted.

She made her way backstage and waited for the crew to change the sets when she saw Luke with coffee on the other side. She gave him a wave and a smile, mouthing 'thank you'. He simply nodded, coming around to the other side of the stage.

"Figured you might need this," he said, handing her a cup of coffee.

"And it's not cold! You are a god," Lorelai said, sipping the coffee.

"I just make the coffee," Luke replied. "I think Taylor wants to start, the lights are going down."

Lorelai put the coffee cup in the 'to go' tray and cleared her throat. "All I ask is that you won't mock me for this later. I'm a terrible singer."

"You're not the worst I've heard," Luke said with a smirk.

Lorelai shook her head and took a deep breath, walking onstage. This time the cast managed to pull together the performance and make it to intermission. She walked backstage and grabbed the coffee Luke held on the tray. "Still warm. I'm amazed," she said, taking a sip.

"That went well," Luke pointed out.

Lorelai nodded. "I think Kirk may have dislocated his shoulder though," she mused.

Luke shuddered. "That hurts like hell."

"When did you dislocate your shoulder?" Lorelai asked.

"High school," Luke replied. "Soon as that got better, I blew out my elbow."

Lorelai sighed. "That stinks, Luke. But that arm is strong enough to pour me coffee, so if you became a big name sports player I surely wouldn't be around at this moment."

"You act like my food is your survival," Luke said. "But you got along fine until you and I actually met."

Taking another sip of coffee to finish the cup, Lorelai shook her head. "You give yourself too little credit, my friend. And it's not just the coffee and the food."

Luke opened his mouth to respond, but Taylor interrupted him. "Everyone, in your places, please, we're starting the second half of the play! I repeat, places everyone! Lights Rory!"

Lorelai looked over her shoulder at Rory. "Yeah, Rory, get the lights," she teased sarcastically.

Rory laughed. "Ha, that's funny. I can make sure the spotlight conveniently miss you and shine on Kirk. Or I can cut your microphone."

"Fine, fine, I'm going," Lorelai consented, sticking her tongue out at Rory. She walked onstage to find Kirk in a sling. She tried to contain her laughter long enough to keep composure during the air balloon scene, which Taylor still hadn't figured out. The second half was finally over and everyone was finally released from practice.

"I'm loving the 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' scene," Rory mentioned, grabbing Lorelai's coat. "You're very on key."

Lorelai shrugged. "It's better than being off key. I'm not going to have eighty retirement tours, but this is going to be my official retirement from musical theatre. Really."

"Aw, now, why'd you say that?" Rory asked. "Now if you want to do another play, and if you ever wanted to fulfill your lifelong dream of being Belinda in a musical about the Go Go's, I highly suggest that you take that back!"

Putting on her coat, Lorelai giggled. "Fine, it's taken back. Really. Luke's our witness. Will we see you tonight at dinner, Luke?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shook his head. "I have some errands to take care of."

Lorelai nodded, slightly confused at Luke's vague answer. "Will we see you tomorrow? Big day!"

"I'll make an appearance," Luke insisted. "See you two tomorrow."

Rory turned to Lorelai. "What did you get Luke for running lines with you?"

"Tickets to a Red Sox game. Apparently they're pretty cheap now, the team's so bad," Lorelai giggled. "But I'm sure Luke will love them anyway."

"I think that sounds like a plan," Rory agreed. "You nervous about tomorrow?"

Lorelai shook her head. "The star is never nervous until about an hour before. Ask me tomorrow."

"I'll hold you to that," Rory teased.

"I have a feeling I'll need you to help me out with my meltdown," Lorelai said, putting her arm around Rory. "And can I ask a favor?"

"Anything for you," Rory teased.

"Can we not link arms and walk together for a very long time?"

Rory giggled. "Your wish is my command."

"In that case, can you give me a million dollars, world peace, and unlimited wishes?"

"I didn't say 'wishes', I said 'wish'," Rory teased.

Lorelai scrunched up her nose, holding the door for Rory. "Fine. I guess I'll have to find some fairy godmothers then."


	8. Opening Night

Opening night was going to be a hectic one, Lorelai was sure of it. From the moment she opened her eyes, she knew. She was rather annoyed when she woke up at eight, unable to go back to sleep. Walking downstairs, she thought about what to do. She realized that Rory walked to school that morning, despite Lorelai's insistence upon Rory's taking a 'mental health' day. She got dressed, annoyed at the fact that there was nothing else to do, and decided she needed coffee, and needed it right away.

Walking downstairs, grabbing his 'thank you' present, and throwing on her jacket, she started walking to Luke's. She needed his magic coffee in order to work her magic onstage, and she was also curious about his vague answers to her questions the night before. She walked into the diner, taking a seat at the counter. The rest of the tables were full, and her usual 'breakfast table' was already taken, as the breakfast rush waited for no one.

Luke came out from the kitchen and stopped in his tracks. "What are you doing here?"

"You're having a 'Little Rascals' moment? Is there a sign on the door that says 'Positively No Girls Allowed'? I see nothing," she mused.

"No, you're just not here at your normal time," Luke said, bringing eggs to a woman in the corner.

She shrugged. "I couldn't sleep, Rory's at school, despite the fact that I specifically told her to skip, and now here I am, not even being welcomed by the proprietor of my favorite eating establishment. If you want to see the percentage of my salary that comes here every year, I'd be glad to make some pie charts. Jeez, now I want pie."

"You're not getting pie," he said, walking behind the counter and pouring Lorelai's coffee. "You can have any breakfast food on the menu, though, there are plenty of choices there. And you told Rory to skip school?"

Lorelai pouted. "I did, and she didn't listen to me. Have I taught her anything? And to answer your second point you just made, no, not as many choices as there are for types of pie. Will you have pie later if I come in?"

"Yes, Lorelai, I'll have pie later," Luke grumbled.

"What kinds?"

Luke looked at Lorelai, obviously confused. "Why do you care this early in the morning what kinds of pie I'll start serving at noon?"

"I like to plan ahead."

"Since when?"

She thought for a moment. "Since now, since the moment you refused to serve me pie."

"What are you going to eat now?" Luke asked.

Lorelai tapped her fingers on the counter, thinking about what to order. "Pancakes," she finally said, nodding her head as if to convince herself.

"Coming right up," Luke said, tearing the order off of the pad.

She watched as Luke disappeared into the kitchen. She began to run lines in her head, and was startled when he brought her the pancakes she'd ordered. "Thanks," she said, laughing at herself.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's like that pillow on the couch at my house?"

"I don't look at your pillows."

Lorelai huffed. "It's an upside down cow, lying on its back, and it says 'Really, I'm fine'. Rory got it for me for my birthday this year."

"Well, if you're in the state of the upside down cow, I suggest you fix whatever's wrong before tonight."

"What's tonight?" Lorelai asked, taking a sip of coffee.

"You're serious?" Luke asked.

Lorelai shook her head. "I obviously know that tonight is opening night. What, do you think I'm stupid?"

"I didn't say that."

She grinned, cutting the pancakes. "Good. You know what's good for you. Are you coming tonight?"

Luke crossed his arms. "Well, if I don't have a rush in the diner I'll make an appearance. It may be kind of fun to mock Kirk, Morey, and Andrew."

"But not me?"

"You have to work with those clowns, so, no. I'm not a stone cold man."

Lorelai giggled. "So thoughtful of you," she teased, taking another bite of her pancake. "So where were you last night?"

Luke shrugged. "Around."

"I'm not going to get an answer out of you, am I?" she asked, shoveling the last bite of her pancake into her mouth.

He shook his head. "You finished with this?"

"Unless you want me to lick the plate clean," Lorelai replied, feigning offense. "Diner man's grumpy this morning, check please," she said, pushing the plate toward him.

"I am not grumpy, you're getting on my nerves," Luke explained, taking Lorelai's plate and bringing it back to the kitchen.

Reaching into her purse, Lorelai grabbed the envelope with the Red Sox tickets in it. She decided to use them as a peace offering, so maybe when she had her 'one hour before show time' meltdown, he would help her run lines. She watched and waited as he served some more customers. When he came back around the counter, she held out the envelope. "Here, these are for you."

"What is this?"

"Just take it, okay?" she asked. "I don't want you to be mad at me, and I want you to know that I appreciated your help these past few weeks."

Luke opened the envelope and looked at Lorelai. "This is what I get for helping you?"

She shrugged. "I thought they were supposed to be good seats."

"Well, they are, but…" he sighed. "Thank you."

Smiling, she put on her jacket. "I knew you couldn't argue with me because of it. Enjoy the game. See you tonight?"

He nodded. "See you tonight."

Lorelai returned home to look over her lines some more. Soon enough, Rory was home. The girls had a few cups of coffee, and watched some cheesy movies. They were sitting on the couch, ready to move on to their third movie, when the telephone rang.

"Nose goes," Lorelai said, touching her index finger to her nose.

Rory crossed her arms and shook her head. "Nope. You answer it."

Lorelai sighed. "Hello?" she answered, picking up the telephone.

"Lorelai, it's Miss Patty. I'm calling you because Taylor wants to do one last run through before the show. Will you and Rory be able to make it?"

She looked at Rory, who nodded and went to put on her sneakers. "Give us a half an hour, we'll be there," Lorelai said, buying herself some extra time to put on makeup.

"Oh, excellent. We'll see you then," Miss Patty said, hanging up the phone.

Lorelai groaned as she walked up the stairs. "I just know I'm gonna hate all this makeup."

"You already wear a lot of makeup," Rory said, following her mom upstairs.

"Not inches of it," Lorelai replied. "I'm going to have a foot of makeup, like Marie Antionette or whoever did when they were buried."

"What?"

Lorelai sighed. "When you were a lowly eighth grader you told me that there was some queen who was buried with tons of makeup on."

"I don't remember," Rory said, handing Lorelai the lipstick.

"Would have made a good reference," Lorelai groaned, putting the lipstick on.

"Oh, well, I know it really happened. No need to worry on that one."

Lorelai nodded. "All right, I'm glad you trust me, kid. Enough makeup?"

Rory shook her head. "You need more eye shadow."

"I'm going to look like a clown!"

"Well, then, I guess we call Barnum and Bailey, because it's show time!" Rory teased.

Lorelai grabbed her ruby slippers and her script. "Not funny, missy."

"I thought it was," Rory said, laughing. "Pet the elephants for me, I've always thought they were cool. And when you finally come home, bring me back a Marcel."

"I am not pulling a Ross. Out, out, let's go," Lorelai said, gently pushing Rory out the door and downstairs.

The final rehearsal went smoothly. A little too smoothly for Lorelai. The rest of the practices and run throughs had some sort of disaster, and she was accustomed to the idea of dealing with whatever hit her. But this time, nothing came up. She walked back to her dressing room to find Luke sitting on the couch.

"Hey," she said, smiling.

"You have a couch in here?" he asked.

"Nope. That's Freddy, the giant pink dog you just sat on. He bites."

"Kind of like the rabid friend Toto should have?" Luke offered.

Lorelai nodded, sitting next to him on the couch. "Exactly. You learn quickly."

"You okay?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just… will you run through some stuff with me?"

"Why?"

Lorelai sighed. "Because I'm getting a little nervous, okay? It gets out and your hat gets hat-napped."

"Fine. Where do you want to start?"

"Anywhere," she said, braiding her hair.

Luke ran through the first half of the play with Lorelai and he looked up, closing the script. "You're fine, you know the lines, what's the problem?"

Her eyes widened and she looked at her shoes. "Nothing. I just… I just needed to do it one more time."

She looked up to find Luke reaching over the arm of the couch. He handed her a small gift bag. "Here."

She took the bag. "For me?" she teased.

"One more comment and it goes back," Luke warned.

Lorelai flashed a genuine smile and reached into the bag. The first item she pulled out was a small and delicate glass shoe. "It's a sparkly red ruby slipper," she said, inspecting the slipper. "It's going on the mantel. Thank you, Luke."

"Well, I was trying to find two, but I figured one would serve the purpose."

She nodded. "It does," she said, reaching into the bag again. She unwrapped a picture of Lorelai and Rory at Dress rehearsal. "Luke, this is amazing. Thank you!"

"I'm glad you like it," he said.

She put the tissue paper in the bag with the items and gave Luke another smile. They sat for a moment, looking at each other. Lorelai anxiously tugged at one of her braids, knowing how silly she looked. Her makeup was entirely too dark, she was in a Dorothy costume, and her hair was in two braids. She couldn't possibly look goofier, yet Luke looked at her in a way she couldn't imagine being looked at ever before in her life.

It was a look of love, admiration, concern, and care. All rolled into one. She sat for a moment, trying to interpret its meaning, when Taylor banged on the door and let himself in.

"Five minutes to show time, Lorelai," Taylor said, disappearing as quickly as he came in.

Lorelai looked at Luke. "I should, uh," she started, motioning toward the door.

"Break a leg. Well, not really. Because, uh, those three months were miserable for me," Luke teased.

"For you? Did you have to wear a cast?"

"I dealt with the consequences of your cast," Luke groaned. "Get out there, will ya?"

"Thanks," she said, smiling. She walked backstage, peeking out to see where Luke would sit. He took a seat in the front row and she rolled her eyes. Of course he had to sit there. She took a sip of coffee and walked onstage, ready to play the part she'd been practicing for weeks.

The show went as well as it could possibly go with Kirk in a sling. He stepped on Andrew's lion tail, almost detaching his costume and causing Andrew to fall flat on his face onstage. Morey slipped a few "cools" and "uncools" into the dialogue, and Babette's melting scene didn't go as planned. But for Stars Hollow, the show went well.

The next afternoon, Lorelai decided to show her face in public. She'd sat in bed, wondering how badly she'd embarrassed herself for awhile, and decided that she really needed a cheeseburger. After writing Rory a note on a pink post-it explaining her whereabouts, she walked into the diner, taking a seat by the window. Luke came to serve her almost immediately.

"You left awfully quickly last night," he said, pouring her coffee.

She nodded. "I wanted to get out of there before I got really aggravated with all the 'can I be your agent?' remarks."

"They teased you that bad?"

"Nope, they were serious, that's the sad part," Lorelai responded with a laugh.

"Well, the Gazette said you were the highlight of the show, they gave you an unprecedented seven stars," Luke teased.

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Seven?"

"Apparently Miss Patty got six once. You outdid her. She may be mad," Luke chuckled.

"I'm only an amateur," Lorelai quipped, taking a sip of her coffee. "I'll take a cheeseburger and extra chili fries. Thank you for all your help, again. I couldn't have done it without you."

"No problem," Luke said, walking back behind the counter.

Rory opened the door, causing the diner door's bells to jingle as she pushed the door in. Running to the table, she collapsed dramatically into her seat. "You act and you walk super fast," Rory teased, gasping for breath. "Need coffee."

"Luke?" Lorelai called.

"One sec," Luke replied from the kitchen.

"Sorry, sweets, I didn't realize you were up," Lorelai said, smiling sympathetically at her daughter.

Rory shrugged, sitting up. "It's okay. You owe me lunch because of it."

"Luke, make it two cheeseburgers?" Lorelai called.

"One step ahead of you," Luke replied, pouring Rory a cup of coffee. "I still don't get why your mom lets you drink this stuff."

Rory grinned. "Because I'm special."

"Good answer," Lorelai teased.

Luke walked away from the table, shaking his head. Rory watched him go back into the kitchen and turned to Lorelai.

"He so saved your butt," she said, trying to catch her breath again.

"He did?" Lorelai asked. "Oh, by running lines," she added, realizing what Rory was talking about.

"You were like Judy reincarnated last night, according to Babette. Luke was a huge part of that," Rory said.

"I've noticed."

Rory smiled. "Just making sure he'll get credit in your speech at the Oscars. Don't forget to thank people like they do."

"How could I forget Luke?" she asked, watching him in the kitchen. It was true. He was impossible to forget. He spent weeks helping her prepare, bringing her coffee, and being his usual supportive self. She smiled. He meant a lot to her, and he would be the first person on her metaphorical list.

_The End_

**A/N: I want to thank everyone for sticking with the story, despite the non Java Junkie ending. Look out for more from me, and if you haven't, check out "The Gilmore Handbook" for more sweet and silly scenes like the one that this story caused me to expand upon!**


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